Constitutional Qualifications | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives First & Milestones of the House of Representatives “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.” — U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 2, clause 2 /tiles/non-collection/i/i_origins_constitutional_qualifications_aoc.xml Oil on canvas, Howard Chandler Christy, 1940, courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol Signing of the Constitution The Constitution placed notably few hurdles between ordinary citizens and becoming a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The founders wanted the House to be the legislative chamber closest to the people—the least restrictive on age, citizenship, and the only federal office at the time subject to frequent popular election. The Constitution requires that Members of the House be at least 25 years old, have been a U.S. citizen for at least seven years, and live in the state they represent (though not necessarily the same district).

And Article VI, clause 3 requires that all Members take an oath to support the Constitution before they exercise the duties of their office. In Federalist 52, James Madison of Virginia wrote that, “Under these reasonable limitations, the door of this part of the federal government is open to merit of every description, whether native or adoptive, whether young or old, and without regard to poverty or wealth, or to any particular profession of religious faith.” Origins The constitutional qualifications for office originate in British law. Members of the House of Commons had to live in the shires or boroughs they represented, although that was rarely done in practice. The founders used that example to motivate the requirement that Members of the House live in the state they represent. This would increase the likelihood that they would be familiar with the people’s interests there, but there was no mention during the debates about living in the same district. The district system emerged later as states dealt with how to fairly organize their congressional delegations. Citizenship At the time the U.S. Constitution was written, the British prevented anyone born outside England or its Empire from serving in the Commons, even if the individual had subsequently become a citizen.

By mandating that an individual be a citizen for at least seven years, the founders attempted to strike a balance between preventing foreign interference in domestic politics and keeping the House of Representatives close to the people. The founders also did not want to discourage immigration to the new country by shutting off the government to new arrivals. Age The founders initially set 21, the voting age, as the minimum age to serve in the House. During the Federal Constitutional Convention, though, George Mason of Virginia moved to make the age 25. Mason said that there should be a period between being free to manage one’s own affairs and managing the “affairs of a great nation.” Convention Delegate James Wilson of Pennsylvania objected to the suggestion that any further restrictions be placed on House membership, and cited the service of William Pitt as a counterexample. Pitt, who held office at the time of the Convention, was the youngest prime minister in British history at the age of 24. Nevertheless, Mason’s amendment passed seven states to three. The House and Its Members Article I, section 5 of the Constitution provides the House with the authority to determine whether Members-elect are qualified to be seated.

For instance, William Claiborne of Tennessee became the youngest person to ever serve in the House when he was elected and seated in 1797 at the age of 22. The House also seated Claiborne at the age of 24, when he won re-election. The House, however, has not always been so lenient. Representative John Young Brown of Kentucky was first elected to the House in the 36th Congress (1859–1861) when he was 24, but the House refused to administer the oath of office to him until he was 25—after the first session of the Congress was over. For Further Reading Farrand, Max, ed. The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Rev. ed. 4 vols. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1937. Madison, James, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay. The Federalist Papers. New York: Penguin Books, 1987. Story, Joseph. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. 3 vols. Boston, 1833.

Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov , archives@mail.house.gov Requirements to be a United States Representative By Phaedra Trethan Updated July 04, 2016. The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Congress, and it currently counts 435 men and women among its members. House members are popularly elected by constituents in their home states; they don't represent the entire state, but rather specific geographic districts within the state. House members serve two-year terms, but what does it take to be a representative in the first place, besides money, legions of loyal constituents, charisma, and the stamina to make it through a campaign? According to Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution , House members must be: at least 25 years of age. a citizen of the United States for at least seven years prior to being elected. a resident of the state he or she is chosen to represent.

In addition, the post-Civil War Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any person who has taken any federal or state oath swearing to support the Constitution, but later took part in a rebellion or otherwise aided any enemy of the U.S. from serving in the House or Senate. continue reading below our video Overview of the Legislative Branch No other requirements are specified in Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution. However, all Members must take an oath to support the U.S. Constitution before being allowed to exercise the duties of the office. Discussion Why are these requirements for being elected to the House so much less restrictive than the requirements for being elected to the Senate ? The Founding Fathers intended that the House be the chamber of Congress closest to the American people. To help accomplish that, they placed decidedly few hurdles that might prevent any ordinary citizen from being elected to the House in the Constitution.

In Federalist 52 , James Madison of Virginia wrote that, “Under these reasonable limitations, the door of this part of the federal government is open to merit of every description, whether native or adoptive, whether young or old, and without regard to poverty or wealth, or to any particular profession of religious faith.” State Residency In creating the requirements to serve in the House of Representatives, the founders drew freely from British Law, which at the time, required members of the British House of Commons to live in the villages and towns they represented. That motivated the founders to include the requirement that Members of the House live in the state they represent in order to increase the likelihood that they would be familiar with the people’s interests and needs. The Congressional district system and the process of apportionment were developed later as the states dealt with how to fairly organize their congressional representation. US Citizenship When the founders were writing the U.S. Constitution, British law banned persons born outside England or the British Empire from ever being allowed to serve in the House of Commons. In requiring members of the House to have been a U.S. citizen for at least seven years, the founders felt they were balancing the need to prevent foreign interference in U.S.

affairs and keeping the House close to the people. In addition, the founders did not want to discourage immigrants from coming to the new nation. Age of 25 If 25 sounds young to you, consider that the founders first set the minimum age to serve in the House at 21, same as the voting age. However, during the Constitutional Convention , delegate George Mason of Virginia moved to set the age at 25. Mason argued that some should pass between becoming free to manage one’s own affairs and managing the “affairs of a great nation.” Despite an objection from Pennsylvania delegate James Wilson, Mason’s amendment was approved by a vote of seven states to three. Despite the 25 year age restriction, there have been rare exceptions. For example, William Claiborne of Tennessee became the youngest person to ever serve in the House when he was elected and seated in 1797 at the age of 22, Claiborne was allowed to serve under Article I, section 5 of the Constitution, which gives the House itself the authority to determine whether Members-elect are qualified to be seated. Phaedra Trethan is a freelance writer and a former copy editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper.

Article I, Section 2, Clause 2: Qualifications for Representatives Share Qualifications for Representatives No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. Article I, Section 2, Clause 2 When Edmund Randolph of Virginia presented the Virginia Plan at the beginning of the Constitutional Convention, he suggested, among other things, that Representatives should meet certain qualifications. It was some time, however, before the delegates turned to the issue. When they had completed their consideration, the Framers had opted for only a few restrictions. The Framers considered and rejected property, wealth, and indebtedness qualifications. On republican grounds, the Framers cut loose from the British practice of multiple qualifications and limitations. They settled on only three. First, there must be a minimum age of twenty-five years so that the office-holder would possess some modicum of life's experience to season his judgment.

Second, a Representative must be a citizen for seven years, a compromise among widely different views, but seemingly long enough to prevent foreign nations from infiltrating the halls of Congress with persons holding alien allegiances. Third, the Member of the House must be an inhabitant of the state in which he is chosen, a change from "resident," which word might, according to James Madison, "exclude persons absent occasionally for a considerable time on public or private business." Although a Representative must be an inhabitant of the state in which he is chosen, according to the Constitution, he need not be an inhabitant of the district from which he is elected. When the Constitution was before the state ratifying conventions, delegates paid little attention to the issue of qualifications, and although disputes occasionally arose over the seating of a Member of the House, the clause attracted no judicial attention for nearly two centuries. Judicial involvement in the clause did not occur until the latter part of the twentieth century. The question of whether the House of Representatives could, through Article I, Section 5, Clause 1, add to or define for itself what constituted "qualifications" reached the Supreme Court in Powell v. McCormack (1969).

Finding that an elected Representative, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., had engaged in serious misconduct, the House refused to seat him, even though Powell had met the formal qualifications of Article I, Section 2, Clause 2. In its decision, the Supreme Court held that Congress had no constitutional authority to alter the qualifications for Representatives as stated in the Constitution. So far as Congress was concerned, the constitutional qualifications were fixed. The Congress could not validly exclude Powell. The Powell decision left open the question whether the states could add to the qualifications stated in the Constitution. Were the qualifications in the Constitution a floor on which the states could erect other requirements, or were they the sum of all qualifications, brooking no alteration from any source? This issue came to a head in the 1990s when a popular movement to limit the terms of Members of Congress swept the country. In United States Term Limits v. Thornton (1995), the Court struck down those attempts. The Court ruled that the qualifications in the Constitution were in fact exclusive and could not be added to or altered. In his opinion for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens reaffirmed the historical argument in Powell that Congress did not have the power to alter the qualifications.

He then extended that rationale to reach the issue Powell had not decided: whether any given state could impose additional qualifications. The Court held that the historical record demonstrated that the qualifications were exclusive in relation to the states as well. Stevens argued that Framers and early commentators, such as John Dickinson, James Madison, and Justice Joseph Story, thought that the states could not add additional qualifications, that the federal government was a creature of the people and not of the states, and that, consequently, the Members of the House of Representatives were accountable to the people and not to the states. He added that after ratification of the Constitution, the states retained the power to add certain qualifications for voters, such as property, but had no power to add qualifications for Representatives beyond what the Constitution prescribed. Quoting earlier cases and Alexander Hamilton, Stevens's central argument was "that the people should choose whom they please to govern them." Justice Clarence Thomas, speaking for the four-person dissent, developed a contrary history and argued that the federal government was created by the people, not as a whole, but of the several states. Whatever powers not given to the federal government were thus retained by the states. Consequently, the states retained the power to add qualifications to Representatives elected within their respective jurisdictions.

As Thomas noted, the text of the clause limits the power of Congress, not that of the states. In addition, neither in the Constitutional Convention nor in the state ratifying conventions was there a statement that the states could not add qualifications. The Court's majority, on the other hand, stated that creating qualifications for federal Representatives did not derive from the states and there was, consequently, no such power that was retained by the states. Ave Maria School of Law Further Reading Roderick Hills, A Defense of State Constitutional Limits on Federal Congressional Terms, 52 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 97 (1991) David Hays Lowenstein, Congressional Term Limits and the Constitution, in The Politics and Law of Term Limits 125–140 (Edward H. Crane & Roger Pilon eds., 1994) Ronald D. Rotunda, Rethinking Term Limits for Federal Legislators in Light of the Structure of the Constitution, 73 Or. L. Rev. 561 (1994) Ronald D. Rotunda & Stephen Safranek, An Essay on Term Limits and a Call for a Constitutional Convention, 80 Marq. L. Rev.

227 (1996) Stephen Safranek, The Constitutional Case for Term Limits (1993) Case Law Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969) United States Term Limits v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995) Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives - Member FAQs Member FAQs Contract All | Expand All 1. Who is a Member of Congress? A Member of Congress is a U.S. Representative, who serves in the House of Representatives, or a U.S. Senator, who serves in the Senate. A Member of the House also is called a Congresswoman or Congressman. (Delegates and the Resident Commissioner are nonvoting members of the House.) For lists of current Members of the House, visit the Member Information page . For lists of current Senators, visit the U.S. Senate website . 2. What are Delegates and the Resident Commissioner? How long do they serve, and what do they do?

The office of Delegate was established by ordinance of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) and confirmed by a law of the U.S. Congress. From the beginning of the Republic, the U.S. House of Representatives has admitted Delegates from territories or districts organized by law. There are currently five Delegates, including one from the District of Columbia, and one from each of the following territories: American Samoa The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands The Virgin Islands. Congress created the post of Resident Commissioner in 1900 to apply to Puerto Rico. Congress granted a Resident Commissioner to the Philippines several years later. Since 1946, when the Philippines became independent, only Puerto Rico has had a Resident Commissioner. Delegates and Representatives serve a two-year term, and the Resident Commissioner serves a four-year term. In most respects, Delegates and the Resident Commissioner have most of the authority that Members have. On the House Floor, they can speak, introduce bills, and offer amendments. They can serve on House Committees and possess most of the authority that other Committee members have. Delegates and the Resident Commissioner also may offer amendments while the House is conducting business as the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.

However, unlike Members, they may not vote while the House is conducting business as the Committee of the Whole or vote on the final passage of legislation when the House is meeting. For current lists of the Members, Delegates, and Resident Commissioner, visit the Member Information page . 3. Do Members take an Oath of Office when they enter the House? Article VI of the U.S. Constitution requires that Members of the U.S. Congress be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. Members-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives typically take the Oath of Office on the House Floor on the first day of a new Congress, immediately after the Speaker of the House has been elected and sworn in. The Speaker administers this oath: “I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God” (5 U.S.C. §3331).

If elected in special elections during the course of a Congress, Representatives, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner generally take the Oath on the Floor, once the Clerk of the House has received a certificate of election from the appropriate election commission. On rare occasions, because of illness or other such circumstances, a Member-elect has been authorized to take the Oath at a location other than the House, and the Speakerâs designee administers the Oath. For information on Members who have taken the Oath of Office, visit the Member Information page . 4. What are the requirements for becoming a Member of the House? Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states: "No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen." These requirements cannot be changed without a constitutional amendment. 5. When are House elections held? General elections for the U.S. House of Representatives are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in even-numbered years. For election results and resources, visit the Election Information page. 6.

How are Representatives, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner nominated and elected? In most states, territories, and the District of Columbia, candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives who are members of major political parties are nominated in a primary election. Some states also provide for a party convention to nominate candidates or to endorse candidates before a primary. In many states, no primary election is held for a particular office if a candidate is unopposed. Minor-party candidates are nominated according to individual party rules and procedures, while Independent candidates are nominated by self-declaration. States automatically place major-party candidates on the primary ballot. Minor-party and Independent candidates must meet state-specific requirementsâsuch as submitting a petition with the signatures of registered votersâto be placed on the ballot. House Members are elected by plurality vote (the largest number of votes received) in the congressional district in which they are candidates. Special cases include: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas, which require that a candidate receive a majority (more than half) of popular votes to be nominated. In these states, a runoff primary election between the top two candidates is held if no candidate receives a majority in the first primary.

Louisiana, which requires that all candidates compete in an “open primary,” an all-party primary election. The candidate who wins the majority (more than half) of the votes is declared elected. The election is held on general election day (the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November). If necessary, a runoff election between the top two finishers will follow several weeks later. For election results and resources, visit the Election Information page . 7. What is the size of the House Membership, and how is it determined? The current size of the U.S. House–435 Representatives–was established by Public Law 62-5 on August 8, 1911, and the law took effect in 1913. Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution stipulates the minimum and maximum numbers of Members in the House. Learn More about Congressional Apportionment and view a chart of apportionment by state. . Additional information on apportionment is available on the website of the U.S. Census Bureau, on the Congressional Affairs Office page or on the Congressional Apportionment page . 8. How many Representatives does each state have in the House?

Under Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution , each state, territory, or district is entitled to at least one representative. Additional seats are apportioned based on population. The U.S. Congress fixes the size of the U.S. House of Representatives and the procedure of apportioning the number of Representatives among the states. State legislatures pass laws that determine the physical boundaries of congressional districts, within certain constraints established by Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court (through reapportionment and redistricting rulings). The number of Members for each state is apportioned according to the results of the decennial census conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s U.S. Census Bureau. For more information on current congressional districts, visit the Congressional District Profiles page on the U.S. Census Bureau's website. 9. Where are the Members’, Delegates’, and Resident Commissioner’s offices? Member offices are located in Washington, DC, in the Cannon, Longworth, and Rayburn House office buildings south of the U.S. Capitol, along Independence Avenue. In addition, House Committee offices and support services are located in the buildings and the Ford House Office Building.

House leadership offices are located in the House wing of the Capitol. Visit the Architect of the Capitol website for more information on the location and history of the House office buildings. For specific Member contact information, visit the Member Information page . Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner also maintain offices in their states, territories, and districts. For a list of district office websites, visit the House website . For information on historic room assignments in House office buildings, visit the History, Art & Archives website . 10. Do Members of the House have assigned seating in the House Chamber? Assigned seating for Members was abolished during the 63rd Congress, in 1913. Today, Members may sit where they please. Generally, Democrats occupy the east side of the Chamber to the right of the Speaker of the House, and Republicans sit across the aisle on the Speaker's left. The tables on either side of the aisle are reserved for party leaders and for Committee leaders during debate on bills their Committees bring to the House Floor. For information on the locations of historic desks in the Old House Chamber, visit the History, Art & Archives website . 11.

How is a vacancy filled in the event of a House Memberâs death, resignation, declination (refusal to serve), or expulsion? View the list of current congressional vacancies and vacancies listed in overviews of previous Congresses . 12. What is meant by “Member at Large”? A Member at Large is a Representative, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner of the U.S. House of Representatives who has been elected by the voters of a state, district, or territoryânot by the voters from a specific congressional district. The U.S. Congress enacted a law in 1967 that prohibits states with more than one Representative from holding Member at Large elections (2 U.S.C. §2c). For information on current Members’ “at Large” and district designations, view the following official lists on the Member Information page : “Official Alphabetical List of Members” “Official List of Members by State” “Official Member Telephone Directory.” 13. What is the proper way to address a letter to a Member of the House? Acceptable forms of address for Members of the U.S. House of Representatives include “the Honorable” and “Representative.” Address correspondence according to the following samples: The Honorable J.Q.

Smith For information on how to contact Members, visit the Member Information page . 14. How much are House Members paid? For current and historical information on Members’ salaries, visit the Congressional Research Service website . 15. How many women are serving in Congress? For the number of women currently serving in the U.S. Congress–and other information about women in Congress–visit the History, Art & Archives website 16. How many Members of the House are in each party? For data on the party divisions in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, visit the Congressional Profile page . House Leadership & Officers 1. What is the role of the Speaker of the House? Who has served as Speaker? The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives customarily has the following roles: Institutional, as presiding officer and administrative head of the House Representative, as an elected Member of the House Party leader, as leader of the majority party in the House. By statute, the Speaker is second in line, after the Vice President of the United States, to succeed the President (3 U.S.C. §19). For more information on the current Speaker, visit the Speaker’s website . 2. How is the Speaker of the House elected?

For more information on the current Speaker, visit the Speaker’s website . 3. What are the duties of the Speaker of the House? The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives: Presides over the House Administers the Oath of Office to House Members Communicates with the President of the United States and the U.S. Senate Leads his or her party conference or caucus Chairs his or her party’s steering committee, which is involved in the selection of party members for standing committees Nominates chairs and members of the Committee on Rules and the Committee on House Administration. The Speaker also appoints: Speakers pro tempore The chair who presides over the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union Members to House-Senate conference committees A Member to the Committee on the Budget Select committees Certain House staff The Speaker recognizes Members to speak on the House Floor or make motions during Floor proceedings. The Speaker makes many important rulings and decisions in the House. The Speaker may debate or vote, but typically only occasionally does so. The Speaker also serves as an ex officio member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. For more information on the current Speaker, visit the Speaker’s website . 4. What are the duties of the House Majority Leader and Minority Leader?

Who has served in these positions? The Majority Leader helps plan daily, weekly, and annual legislative agendas for the U.S. House of Representatives and customarily schedules legislative business on the House Floor. The Majority Leader works closely with the Speaker of the House, and communicates and consults with House Members to advance the majority party’s legislative goals. The Minority Leader leads and serves as a spokesperson for the minority party. The Minority Leader chairs the party’s steering committee, which is involved in the selection of party members for standing committees, and nominates or appoints the party’s members to certain standing committees. The Minority Leader also serves as an ex officio member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The Minority Leader directs the party’s legislative strategies and operations, in consultation with party colleagues. The Majority Leader and Minority Leaderâalso called party Floor leadersâare selected by the party conference and the party caucus. For more information on the current leaders, visit the Majority Leader’s website and the Minority Leader’s website . 5. How are the House Majority Leader and Minority Leader selected? Every two years, before the U.S.

House of Representatives convenes for the first time at the start of a new Congress, the members of the House Republican Conference and House Democratic Caucus separately meet and elect their respective Floor leader. Visit the House Republican Conference’s website and House Democratic Caucus website . 6. What are House whips? Who has served as a whip? In addition to the Majority Leader and Minority Leader, each party in the U.S. House of Representatives elects a whip. Other whip positions vary by party and can include one or more chief deputy whips as well as deputy whips, assistant whips, regional whips, and other whips. The Whips are elected or appointed at organizational meetings before the start of a two-year Congress. Whips maintain communication between party leadership and party members, build the members’ support for the leadershipâs priorities, and inform and mobilize members on voting on key legislation. Visit the current Majority Whip’s website and Minority Whip’s website . 7. What are House party conferences and party caucuses? A party conference or party caucus is an organizational body of all of a party’s members in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The terms “conference” or “caucus” also can refer to some Congressional Member Organizations , or refer to a meeting that includes all of a party’s members in the House. House Republicans call their organization the House Republican Conference; House Democrats call their organization the House Democratic Caucus. The House Republican Conference and House Democratic Caucus officially elect the parties’ leaders. The organizations elect their chairs before the start of a new Congress. Typically, each establishes a steering committee or steering and policy committee, which approves assignments of party members to standing committees, as well as establishes task forces. View the list of House Republican Conference Chairmen, 1863–present and the list of House Democratic Caucus Chairmen, 1849–present . 8. What is a Congressional Member Organization? Congressional Member Organizations (CMOs) in the U.S. House of Representatives are voluntary informal groups of House Members that register with the Committee on House Administration (CHA). Each CMO pursues legislative objectives shared by a group of Members, and many CMOs meet regularly to exchange information. View the list of current and past Congressional Member Organizations on the CHA website. 9. Who are the House Officers, and what are their duties?

Requirements to be a United States Senator By Phaedra Trethan Updated July 04, 2016. The Senate is the United States' higher legislative chamber (the House of Representatives being the lower chamber), containing 100 members. If you have dreams of becoming one of the two senators who represent each state for six-year terms, you might want to check the Constitution first. The guiding document for our government specifically spells out the requirements to be a senator. Individuals must be: at least 30 years old. a U.S. citizen for at least nine years at the time of election to the Senate. a resident of the state one is elected to represent in the Senate. In addition, the post-Civil War Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any person who has taken any federal or state oath swearing to support the Constitution, but later took part in a rebellion or otherwise aided any enemy of the U.S. from serving in the House or Senate. These are the only requirements for the office that are specified in Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution. continue reading below our video Overview of the Legislative Branch Discussion Why are these requirements for serving in the Senate more restrictive than those for serving the House of Representatives?

In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, delegates looked to British law in setting age, citizenship, and residency or “inhabitancy” qualifications for senators and representatives, but voted not to adopt proposed religion and property ownership requirements. Age The delegates debated the minimum age for senators after they had set the age for representatives at 25. Without debate, the delegates voted to set the minimum age for senators at 30. James Madison justified the higher age in Federalist No. 62, stating the due to the more impactful nature of the “senatorial trust,” a “greater extent of information and stability of character,” was needed for senators than for representatives. Interestingly, English law at the time set the minimum age for members of the House of Commons, the lower chamber of Parliament, at 21, and at 25 for members of the upper house, the House of Lords. Citizenship English law in 1787 strictly prohibited any person not born in “the kingdoms of England, Scotland, or Ireland” from serving in either chamber of Parliament. While some delegates might have favored such a blanket ban for the U.S. Congress, none of them proposed it.

An early proposal by Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania included a 14-year U.S. citizenship requirement for senators. However, the delegation voted against Morris’ proposal, voting instead for the current 9-year period, two years longer than the 7-year minimum they had earlier adopted for the House of Representatives. Notes from the convention indicate that the delegates considered the 9-year requirement to be a compromise “between a total exclusion of adopted citizens” and an “indiscriminate and hasty admission of them.” Residency Recognizing the fact that many American citizens may have lived abroad for some time, the delegates felt a minimum U.S. residency, or “inhabitancy” requirement should apply to the members of Congress. While England’ Parliament had repealed such residency rules in 1774, none of the delegates spoke for such rules for Congress. As a result, the delegates voted to require that members of the both the House and Senate be inhabitants of the states from which they were elected, but placed no minimum time periods limits on the requirement. Phaedra Trethan is a freelance writer and a former copy editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. The House Explained · House.gov House History What is a Representative?

Also referred to as a congressman or congresswoman, each representative is elected to a two-year term serving the people of a specific congressional district. Among other duties, representatives introduce bills and resolutions, offer amendments and serve on committees. The number of representatives with full voting rights is 435, a number set by Public Law 62-5 on August 8, 1911, and in effect since 1913. The number of representatives per state is proportionate to population. Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution provides for both the minimum and maximum sizes for the House of Representatives. Currently, there are five delegates representing the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. A resident commissioner represents Puerto Rico. The delegates and resident commissioner possess the same powers as other members of the House, except that they may not vote when the House is meeting as the House of Representatives. To be elected, a representative must be at least 25 years old, a United States citizen for at least seven years and an inhabitant of the state he or she represents. View the list of House members by state or by last name .

Find Your Representative Enter your ZIP code in the banner of this page to find the representative for your congressional district. Did You Know? After extensive debate, the framers of the Constitution agreed to create the House with representation based on population and the Senate with equal representation. This agreement was part of what is referred to as The Great Compromise . Leadership House leadership includes the speaker, majority and minority leaders, assistant leaders, whips and a party caucus or conference. The speaker acts as leader of the House and combines several institutional and administrative roles. Majority and minority leaders represent their respective parties on the House floor. Whips assist leadership in managing their party's legislative program on the House floor. A party caucus or conference is the name given to a meeting of or organization of all party members in the House. During these meetings, party members discuss matters of concern. The majority party members and the minority party members meet in separate caucuses to select their leader. Third parties rarely have had enough members to elect their own leadership, and independents will generally join one of the larger party organizations to receive committee assignments. How many people have served as Speaker of the House? Has the Speaker ever become President? Find out!

Committees The House’s 20 standing committees have different legislative jurisdictions. Each considers bills and issues and recommends measures for consideration by the House. Committees also have oversight responsibilities to monitor agencies, programs, and activities within their jurisdictions, and in some cases in areas that cut across committee jurisdictions. Current standing committees of the House: Agriculture; Appropriations; Armed Services; Budget; Commerce; Education and the Workforce; Ethics; Financial Services; Foreign Affairs; Homeland Security; House Administration; Judiciary; Natural Resources; Oversight and Government Reform; Rules; Science, Space, and Technology; Small Business; Transportation and Infrastructure; Veterans’ Affairs; and Ways and Means. The Committee of the Whole House is a committee of the House on which all representatives serve and which meets in the House Chamber for the consideration of measures from the Union calendar. Before members are assigned to committees, each committee’s size and the proportion of Republicans to Democrats must be decided by the party leaders. The total number of committee slots allotted to each party is approximately the same as the ratio between majority party and minority party members in the full chamber. All committees have websites where they post information about the legislation they are drafting. What's a Select Committee?

The House will sometimes form a special or select committee for a short time period and specific purpose, frequently an investigation. Did You Know? Each committee has a chair and a ranking member. The chair heads the full committee. The ranking member leads the minority members of the committee. Commissions Congress has created a wide variety of temporary and permanent commissions to serve as advisory bodies for investigative or policy-related issues, or to carry out administrative, interparliamentary, or commemorative tasks. Such commissions are typically created by either law or House resolution, and may be composed of House members, private citizens, or a mix of both. In some cases, the commissions are entities of the House or Congress itself; in other cases, they are crafted as independent entities within the legislative branch. Examples of commissions Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission: a temporary, independent investigative body created by law and made up of private citizens. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (also known as the Helsinki Commission): an independent U.S. government agency composed of nine members of the United States Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.

House Page Board: a permanent, Congressional advisory group created by law and made up of House members, Officers, and private citizens. House Commissions Representatives’ schedules are sometimes planned out in increments as short as five minutes. House Rules The Rules of the House of Representatives for the 114th Congress were established by the House with the adoption of H. Res. 5 (PDF) on January 5, 2015. A section by section analysis is also available. Rules of Conduct The Committee on Ethics has jurisdiction over the rules and statutes governing the conduct of members, officers and employees while performing their official duties. Key Concept The Rules Committee controls what bills go to the House Floor and the terms of debate. Majority Rules The makeup of the Rules Committee has traditionally been weighted in favor of the majority party, and has been in its current configuration of 9 majority and 4 minority members since the late 1970s. Did You Know? The Rules Committee has an online Parliamentary Bootcamp that gives an overview of House Floor procedures, process and precendents. As outlined in the Constitution , the House represents citizens based on district populations, while the Senate represents citizens on an equal state basis.

This agreement was part of what is called The Great Compromise which, in turn, led to the Permanent Seat of Government Act establishing the nation’s federal capital in Washington, DC. In 1789, the House assembled for the first time in New York. It moved to Philadelphia in 1790 and then to Washington, DC, in 1800. Key Concept Requirements for Becoming a Member of Congress | Our Everyday Life Requirements for Becoming a Member of Congress by Timothy Sexton The House and Senate comprise the legislative branch. Related Articles Similarities & Differences Between the U.K. & U.S. Political Systems The U.S. Congress is made up of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state is allotted two Senators while the number of representatives each state has is determined according to population. There are 435 seats and with the onset of the 10-year census, redistribution of those seats take place so that a state may gain or lose the number of representatives it had for the previous 10 years. The Senate and the House each have their own particular official and unofficial requirements for election. Age The U.S.

Constitution lays out the age qualifications for being elected to the House of Representatives and the Senate. To be elected as a member of the House of Representatives, a person must be at least 25 years old. To be elected to the Senate, a candidate must be at least 30 years old. Citizenship The U.S. Constitution always lays out requirements for U.S. citizenship. To get elected as a member of the House of Representatives, the candidate must have been a United States citizen for the previous seven years. To get elected to the U.S. Senate the candidate must have been a U.S. citizen for the previous nine years. Residency For election to both the House and Senate, the candidate must be a resident of the state he is representing. Things get a little strange for members of the House of Representatives, however. While a member of Congress must be a resident of the entire state he is representing, he does not actually have to live in the district that elected him. Incumbency While not an official requirement, history has proved that it is far easier to maintain a seat in Congress than to beat an incumbent.

Except for those rare elections where a sweeping change takes place, the average election witnesses 90 percent of all incumbents being voted back into office. The rate of incumbency is usually even higher for members of the House. Race Race is also not an official requirement, but historically speaking white candidates have a far greater chance of being elected than minority candidates. The most racially diverse Congress in U.S. history was the 109th Congress and out of the 535 members 70 were of a minority race. Gender Another unofficial requirement to get elected to Congress is to be male. There is no law against women being elected, obviously, but the 109th Congress again is the most diverse Congress in terms of gender. The number of women in that Congress, though still minute compared to the number of men, is positively gargantuan in comparison to the gender gap that has traditionally existed. The 109th Congress featured 68 women out of 535 in the Senate and House combined. Money It may not be written into the Constitution, but with each passing year it becomes clearer that one of the unwritten requirements of getting elected is to have money.

The median net worth of a member of Congress was estimated at $675,000 and the median net worth of a Senator was estimated at $1.7 million in 2008. With the average cost of a congressional campaign over $1 million and the average cost of a Senate triple that just in smaller states, there is little doubt left that a major requirement for becoming a lawmaker in Washington is to be rich. Resources Constitutional Requirements for Election to Congress About the Author Timothy Sexton's more than 10,000 articles have been published on sites ranging from USA Today to CareerAddict, from PopEater to TakeLessons.com. His writing has been referenced in books ranging from "The Reckless Life...of Marlon Brando" to "Brand New China: Advertising, Media and Commercial and from Scarface Nation to Incentive!" Photo Credits

Question: What is the minimum age required to become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives?
Answer: 25